In the two years since its founding, the city of San Antonio's research and development arm, the R&D League, has secured more than $500,000 to complete six trials and received three grants totaling about $4 million, the league announced Friday.
The city of San Antonio founded the league in partnership with Southwest Research Institute, the United Services Automobile Association and the University of Texas at San Antonio. The R&D League's goal is to form cross-sector teams to collect data through scientific experiments, spurring evidence-based policymaking.
The league's partners have signed a three-year commitment to continue the program and have invested $1 million to launch six to 10 more trials. The organization will also hire six employees to administrate the program full-time.
City of San Antonio Chief Innovation Officer Brian Dillard announced Friday the league's three grants, totaling $4.2 million, are intended to help promote digital access for older adults, equity-based health literacy programs, and to build STEM skills in underrepresented communities.
The R&D League has also established a research agreement with the University of Texas at San Antonio that enables city employees to use the school's resources and collaborate with UTSA researchers on projects. The university also rolled out eight fellowships for students to staff R&D projects.
Kate Kinnison, the city's R&D administrator, noted that the league's trials have had varying degrees of success. One used artificial intelligence via sensors on city garbage trucks to monitor the efficiency of the street layout and other core infrastructure. The trial was unsuccessful in building out AI algorithms, so now the city is planning to use the same sensors on Solid Waste Department Jeeps in hopes of a better outcome.
Another trial analyzed whether the average San Antonio citizen was more likely to respond to messages from the city of San Antonio or from the San Antonio Food Bank. The R&D League found that English-speaking San Antonio residents were 55% more likely to read surveys received from the city than the food bank, but Spanish-speaking residents were equally likely to read both.
One hundred city employees, ranging from front-line to mid-level workers, participated in another trail in which a new online platform was used to collect feedback, concerns and new ideas. The league found that this communication option increased morale and engagement at work.
This year the league is set to begin a traffic safety study applying AI to 10 traffic cameras on Southwest Military to analyze traffic patterns for future city planning. Kinnison said it will also kick off a partnerships portal using dating-website-like technology, geared toward helping academics and city staff find each other to collaborate on projects. It will also launch an immersive approach to police officer training, assigning cadets to a single area of the city and requiring volunteer community service hours within that community.
